Wollaton Hall and Park, Nottinghamshire

Jan Siberechts, 1627–ca. 1703

1697

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A wide landscape view depicts Wollaton Hall and its formal gardens, with a carriage and riders on a path in the foreground. Rolling hills and a village are visible in the distance under a cloudy sky. Idyllic views of country estates such as this one were commissioned by the ruling classes to show off their possessions and their taste. Siberechts presents a bird’s-eye view of Wollaton Hall and Park, capturing its vast acreage while nodding to the sources of the Willoughby family’s wealth: landownership, agriculture, and mining. Built in the 1580s, the grand Elizabethan house is surrounded by opulent gardens, while the distant hills hold the coal on which the family built its fortune. In the foreground, richly dressed figures arrive by carriage, while others promenade and play lawn bowls. To the left, household staff work in veget